Clinton says she never saw security requests for Benghazi

Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday said she never saw the requests for additional security for the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, which was attacked in September, because they were handled by other State Department officials and normally would not reach her level.

Clinton was testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the September attack in Benghazi by Islamist militants in which the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed. Her testimony had been delayed for health reasons.

"The specific security requests pertaining to Benghazi, you know were handled by the security professionals in the department. I didn't see those requests, they didn't come to me, I didn't approve them, I didn't deny them," Clinton said.

She noted that one of the findings of an accountability review board on the Benghazi attack was that "these requests don't ordinarily come to the secretary of state."